“A police procedural set in one of the snazziest fantasy settings ever.”Rachel Neumeier, author of The Floating Islands“
A fun fantasy mystery featuring a vibrant, inclusive world and a deep friendship between the protagonist and her partner sleuth. If you'd like a diverting escape to lift your spirits, Rocio and Hala have just the adventure for you.”
Courtney Schafer, author of the Shattered Sigil trilogy“
A fun, sometimes serious novel that blends humor, mystery, and magic beautifully.”
A. T. Greenblatt, Nebula Award-winning author of “Give The Family My Love”
A delightful fantasy of friendship and mystery in a setting reminiscent of Latin America, by a fresh new talent.
La Bene is a city poised on the edge of change, where automobiles mingle with horse-drawn trolleys and musicians rub shoulders with politicians in trendy cabarets. Every day brings new magical machines, new immigrants … and a new mystery to solve.
Detectives Rocío Díaz Rossi and Hala Haddad Sosa have investigated many crimes together, and Rocío’s intuition and Hala’s logic make them ideal partners. But this time they’re baffled by a newly discovered crypt in the subway, a missing choreographer, and reports of impossible magic.
As the clues pile up, they discover that they’re not working any ordinary kidnapping. Something darker and more sinister is taking root in the city, perhaps the return of a magic so destructive that no one dares to speak of it. If their suspicions are correct, they will have to face an opponent who threatens not only their commitment to justice, but everyone living in their beloved city.
R. Morgan has prepared all her life to be a writer, though she didn't know it. Like that time she volunteered to protect sea turtles on a beach in Costa Rica and wound up with half her body in the nest at 3 am with a blue plastic bag under the turtle's butt to catch her eggs to relocate them so poachers couldn't find them. Or living in Bangkok, Thailand, which is where she is now for her day job. (She's from the USA, but she has also lived in Mexico, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.) Mostly she has worked as a technical editor and a Spanish to English translator in the US, Mexico City, Lima, Moscow and Surabaya, but she has also worked as a dog walker (sometimes taking 11 dogs to the park at once, but usually only two or three), on bilingual websites in Bogotá and Montevideo, and in district court (criminal) and family court in the US as an advocate. She has been asked to interpret from Portuguese even though she doesn't speak Portuguese (it was an emergency) and gotten up at 4 am to edit a meeting report and ended her day at the Bolshoi Theater watching Russian ballet. Her favorite things are long rambling walks, preferably under trees, but a city will do, the smell of rain and a good book. Her favorite poetry anthology is Americans' Favorite Poems, edited by Robert Pinsky and Maggie Dietz, and don't even ask her to pick a favorite book. She has too many. She writes YA fantasy as Raf Morgan.
